Posted on 03 November 2009. Tags: Chris Wilson, coworking, freshpeel, jeff brenman, rowe, skype, Social Media, work
One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Chris Wilson who is also located in Oklahoma City. While his blog focuses on digital marketing strategies for businesses, many of his posts are relevant to those in the job hunt as well as the human resource industry. A recent post of his discusses, a revealing Slide Share presentation by Jeff Brenman of Apollo Ideas discussing the future of the workplace.
With Chris and Jeff’s posts in mind, it is important for us to understand that how we as the employer and employees view and see the workplace is changing. And because of this what companies are looking for in candidates is also changing. How will you as a job seeker and me as a human resource business professional adapt?
- Transparency. Your activities both inside and outside of the office will be tracked. Everything you do and say both online and offline can and will effect your company’s future success. For businesses, this is certainly scary stuff which is why having a clear vision of who you are, your company is, and what the rules are is especially important.
- Flat. Your work location won’t matter. Offices for the most part will become the thing of the past. Skype, Videoconferencing, and streaming video will be the future of the way in which we work. If your company has an office space, it will most likely be shared, a term called coworking where creative people often outside of your company work in a shared workspace. Working from home will be the norm.
- ROWE with me. Companies like Best Buy have been using the ROWE for years with great success. ROWE stands for Results Oriented Work Environment. Environments like these are ideal for the global world we live in and offer flexible hours, employee satisfaction, and a focus on results. Imagine taking Wednesday off to attend your child’s school play and spending that evening in the virtual office without having to take a vacation day or feeling guilty if you didn’t.
- On demand. One of the down sides to this new world of work is that because work is flexible and results based it is also always changing. Employees and businesses will have to learn to quickly make solid business decisions while also understanding that because change is constant so will the work load and hours required to do your job. Employees will begin to work on a more contract and consultancy basis to allow businesses to better adapt to the changing needs of the business world and marketplace.
Posted in Business, HR, Job Search
Posted on 01 November 2009. Tags: Guest, HR, interview, mike kohn, skype, the hr intern
Someone referred me to an article in Time Magazine entitled How Skype is Changing the Job Interview. The title gives it away: the article is all about how Skype is seeing a lot more action in the interviewing process for organizations. After all, it’s free to use (so long as both parties have it) and it simulates an actual face-to-face meeting. Seems like a logical step, right?
So why should interviewing be any different? Let’s be practical here. A company can’t afford to fly you out somewhere. You’re suffering from the recession economy just like everyone else is. If you’re a recent college grad, like several of the people in the article, you have n
o money and no savings. Since the company won’t bring you to them and you can’t get yourself there, your choices are:
- Correspond by e-mail.
- Talk to HR/a hiring manager by phone.
- Employ video conferencing, which, despite its imperfections, will actually give the people you’re speaking to an opportunity to see you in action and will allow you to use gestures, facial expressions and body language to assist you as you speak and listen.
Yeah, like that’s a tough choice. I’ll take #3.
Consider the work of
Albert Mehrabian who identified the three elements of communication: word, tone of voice and body language. He posited that if a person is communicating with us, our opinion of them (i.e. whether we like them or not) is based on these three elements in a set ratio: 7% based on the actual words, 38% based on tone of voice and 55% based on body language.
Now, keep in mind that this theory (which has seen wide distribution and is frequently misrepresented) is only meant to be applied when people are talking about their feelings or attitudes (since that’s what Mehrabian’s research was about). Still, while the numbers may change, the message is clear: the actual words don’t account for NEARLY as much as the nonverbal cues that are sent out. Since it’s hard to really get a feel for someone based on their words alone (e-mail) or just their words and tone of voice (phone), that really means that you want as much face time as possible.
So download Skype and start practicing how to interview over a video connection. Welcome to the future.
Mike Kohn is an HR Generalist and avid social media enthusiast working for a design firm in Washington, DC. Having gone from intern to professional within recent memory, he talks about working in the HR industry and making it in the workforce through his Gen Y lens. Check out Mike on Twitter (@mike_kohn), look him up on Facebook or visit his blog, The HR Intern, to hear more from him.
Posted in Guest, Job Search
